Legendary commentator and WWE Hall Of Famer “JR” Jim Ross has signed a contract which sees his return to pro wrestling commentary, as he will be the voice of New Japan Pro Wrestling after Fox Sports confirmed the rumours this week.
Beginning March 4th 2016, Jim Ross joins AXS TV alongside current NJPW and UFC fighter Josh Barnett to call play by play on every match, filling the recent hole of Mauro Ranallo who recently signed with WWE as SmackDown commentator.
Ross, who has previously worked with NJPW at their annual Wrestle Kingdom 9 show in 2015, is to many the ‘voice of pro wrestling’, will travel to Los Angeles next month to voice the first episodes with Barnett, which will include matches from 2015. The current season of NJPW on AXS began this past Friday with matches from last year’s New Japan Cup and the season will cover Invasion Attack, Dontaku, the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, the Dominion card from last July in Osaka and the G-1 Climax from last summer.
“This opportunity to work with AXS TV is attractive on many fronts,” Ross said. “The travel won’t be weekly but approximately 8-10 trips to Los Angeles in a year’s time. While there, in a two-day, voice-over session, we will hammer out up to six shows. I’m happy OKC now has non-stop flights to LAX.”
Stay up to date with “Good Ol’ JR” over on his official Twitter account @JrsBBQ